


Latibule

by LightningHope



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-03-09 19:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3261857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningHope/pseuds/LightningHope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Look, they were demigods, their lives were going to be weird. But this, this took the cake. Even for demigods, time travel wasn't exactly a thing that happened to them.</p><p>UP FOR ADOPTION AS OF 05/02/2017</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Puppies

Will would have been the first to admit that he was not having the best day. Indeed, what had started out as a rather mediocre day had gone to shit in about ten minutes.

One of the baby hellhounds whimpered and flopped on the ground. Considering it was already the size of a pony, the resulting shockwaves made him grit his teeth as Nico moaned lowly.

Will loved the puppies. He did. As did the rest of the camp, but at their core they were monsters, and combined with the scent of a powerful demigod, an accident like this was just waiting to happen. But why it had to happen to Nico made Will grit his teeth. It was always shit like this that happened to Nico. Tartarus. The jar. His sister.

“Take the hellpuppies out, you said. It’ll be easy, you said. Damnit Nico.” Will whispered, trying his best to inspect Nico’s wound without touching it with his bare hands. Side wounds were a blessing and a curse. It took longer for someone to die, but there was a bigger chance of internal issues. It wasn’t being helped by the way his hands were shaking ever so slightly.

“Excuse you, I’m pretty sure I said nothing of the sort,” Nico grumbled, trying to glare at his boyfriend. Will, now that he was in full healer mode, ignored him.

He shook some powdered unicorn horn onto the wound and began wrapping it with the spare bandages he kept in his backpack. Thank the gods there was no way he left camp without a kit. If he could just get Nico _stabilized_ , he could get him onto one of the puppy’s backs and get him the few miles back to camp. There was no reason for the fear rising in his throat, or the itchy panic that tried to tell him that something even worse was going to happen.

“Will, I can see your face, and while it _is_ pretty, you also look like you’re going to give yourself a heart attack.” Nico said, before turning scarlet and looking in the other direction; however, he seemed to have forgotten that his bundled-up shirt was being used as an impromptu pillow and that his blushes always spread like wildfire on his pale skin. 

“Oh you,” Will batted his eyelashes dramatically, feeling his stomach settle. “You think I’m pretty?  Aw shucks, mister, I don’t think my poor little heart can take it.” Nico’s receding blush came back full force and he looked torn between absolute embarrassment and a quiet pleasure at distracting Will from his panic. Will winked and pressed a gentle kiss to Nico’s collarbone in gratitude.

Will himself was ashamed at how he had reacted. It was one thing to worry, and another to panic so badly it frightened the patient. He always tried to remember that, but the thought of Nico being seriously injured had scared him, more than he sometimes liked to admit to himself.

Breathing deeply, Will secured the bandages and relaxed into a kneeling position. Gently, he ran a hand through Nico’s long hair, trying to avoid the knots. It had been pulled back this morning, and Will felt his mouth curl into a smile as he remembered the warm domesticity of Nico in his bedroom.

“Can you sit up?” he asked, putting an arm around Nico’s shoulders as he carefully pulled him into an upright position.

Nico hissed but nodded, his mouth in a tight line. The bandaging held, and color was already returning to his cheeks. The nearest puppy, Winnie, was also the calmest, and she allowed Nico and Will to mount her with very little wriggling or barking. Her brown-black fur was getting dirty again, and Will sighed as he imagined the effort it would take to clean her and the other puppies up in their baths.

Wasn’t the Hermes cabin on rotation this time? That was not going to be fun.

Winnie was calm until they heard movement in the underbrush. Leo growled at the sound, quickly joined by Winnie. Will lifted his fingers to his mouth, prepared to whistle and get them back to camp as quickly as they could. Technically, the field they were on had been protected and masked, but if a hellhound could get here, so could something else. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Nico slowly drawing his sword. But the figures that emerged from the scant trees were vaguely familiar, which was reinforced when Leo stopped growling and began barking, his tail wagging wildly.

The five were approaching warily, and Will sighed in relief. It looked like Percy and Annabeth had just picked up a few new demigods on their way back from New Rome. Then he realized that even if they had, they were coming from the wrong direction and they certainly wouldn’t have come all the way from California on foot. And if they had already visited camp, they would have dropped off the new campers.

“You stay,” Will commanded, fixing Nico with a stern glare. Nico immediately slumped in a sulk, but stayed put. Will slid to the ground, absently palming one of his daggers. They weren’t his best weapons, but if this turned out to be a trick he wanted to be prepared.

Leo ran off, bounding across the field away from the strangers. Will flexed his arm, torn between staying with his patient and boyfriend and drawing them away. Finally he moved towards them, trying to reason to himself that this would give Nico time to warn the camp if they were tricks. Pfft, as if Nico would just run.

“Will?” Annabeth asked, looking confused. Rightly so, because she was at least five years younger than when he had seen her last. Actually, upon a closer look, she seemed to be about fourteen, as did Percy. Thalia was looking as old as she ever did, so fifteen, the other girl looked to be about their age, maybe younger, and the boy. The boy was Nico, looking a great deal healthier and more excited than Will had ever seen the demigod.

Percy was squinting, which made sense; they hadn’t really talked much before the Titan War and then his eventual relationship with Nico. Will tilted his head as he looked at the wound on Percy’s arm. This was not, he reminded himself, the appropriate time to ask if he could inspect it because it was obviously poisoned.

“Annabeth.” Will replied curtly. This could be any number of things; it almost seemed ridiculous that time travel, or a de-aging curse could be among them… yet. “What year is it?”

“I’d say December of 2007, but I think I’d be wrong.” Annabeth replied archly.

“It’s currently July of 2014.” If the boy was Nico, then the girl had to be Bianca. Will took a moment to feel relieved that his boyfriend hadn’t followed him. This would not be easy to swallow if his suspicions were correct, and it would be worrisome that someone would know Nico’s biggest weak-spot if he was wrong.

“ _Crap_.” Percy said, looking a little awed. A shadow fell over the group that was suspiciously dog shaped. The shadow also had a rider, who was suspiciously Nico-shaped. Will pursed his lips. Thalia summoned her spear from her mace canister. Right, chased by the Kindly Ones and hellhounds to the camp borders. This could not end well. 

“I thought I told you to stay put.” Will addressed the shadow. Maybe it was petulant, but Will had grown used to the way his orders were obeyed in the infirmary.

“On Winnie. If she wanted to come over…” Nico trailed off, and Will didn’t need to see his face to imagine the smirk on the son of Hades. But he also didn’t miss the fine tremor in his voice that suggested that said son of Hades was really just coming up with an excuse to see if it was really his sister. 

“You’re terrible.” The ‘ _I_ _’_ _m sorry_ _’_ went unsaid, but Will knew he could make it up later.

“Why do you have hellhounds,” Thalia said. It wasn’t a question, and her eyes darted between Will and Winnie, breaking the moment.

“Father gave them to me for my birthday last year.” Nico said stiffly, petting Winnie’s neck to calm her, all trace of fear or hope gone. At that moment Leo came galloping towards the group, only to stop at the last moment to rear and fall back on the ground, his tail wagging. Nico, the little one, fell over, but he was smiling so broadly that Will doubted he was hurt.

Thalia eyed the puppies but didn’t say anything else, though she looked like she wanted to say something inappropriate for a ten year old to hear. But as the puppies kept acting like, well, puppies, she put away the spear.

“Your dad gave you two hellhounds as a birthday present?’ Thalia repeated, and Annabeth’s eyes widened in shock. After a moment, Percy’s did too.

“Yeah, something about a sweet sixteen in America, Normal kids get cars, I got hellhounds.” Nico was beginning to look uncomfortable with all the talking, which Will took as his cue to explain more.

“They’re sort of like camp dogs for now. Everyone’s been training them, playing with them, that sort of stuff.” At the mention of camp, Nico’s dark eyes gleamed. Will stifled a groan.

“Look, I’ll head back to camp, talk to Chiron, come back and tell you the verdict. Is everybody okay with that?” Nico asked with false cheer. Will knew that it wasn’t really a question as Nico slid off Winnie to land on the ground. He was going back whether they liked it or not.

Will mentally applauded that his boyfriend didn’t even wince from the fall. He paled, but didn’t wince. Either the unicorn horn had mostly repaired the claw wound already or Nico was going to start pushing himself again. Yay.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. If Will had to guess, he’d say she was trying to come up with an explanation for this scenario, or an escape route. To be fair, this wasn’t exactly a situation he had ever thought to consider.

“What if we aren’t?” Thalia’s blue eyes flashed. “Why should we believe anything you say? How do we know this isn’t a trick?" 

“How do we know you aren’t a trick, hmm?” Nico retorted. “This could all be part of some convoluted plan to destroy Camp Half-Blood.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on,” Bianca said sharply, “and I don’t care, just leave me and my brother out of this, we’re not part of whatever camp you’re talking about.”

“Then why did Dr. Thorn attack you guys? He was a manticore, and monsters only come after demigods.” Nico snapped back. “We don’t get a choice in this, Bianca!”

Nico’s face softened at the fear and confusion on his sister’s face, and made as if to move forward, before blanching and grasping at his side. In a flash Will was there and lifting up his boyfriend’s shirt. There was a moment of struggling, Nico trying to make Will stop fussing and Will trying to get the shirt off and fuss more. It ended with Nico on his back, Will straddling his thighs, one hand rucking up the t-shirt to Nico’s chest and the other prodding at the bandages.

“Looks like you’re just dizzy from blood loss. I told you to stay put for a _reason_ , Death Boy. Get some ambrosia as soon at you’re done talking to Chiron.” Nico stared at him balefully from his position on the ground. It was ridiculous how long his eyelashes were. He had _such_ a pretty boyfriend sometimes. “I think the unicorn horn’s fixed most of it, all that’s really needed is a day or two of good, old-fashioned bed rest!”

“You say that about everything. One of these days you’re going to be on a quest and you’re going to stop everything to make sure I get my _bed rest_ and get us all killed.” Will tried to stay strong in the face of Nico’s teasing but failed after a few seconds.

Will attempted a frown. “Bed rest is very important.” But he clambered to his feet and pulled Nico up as well, his face pulling into a more natural smile.

“Unicorn horn?” Annabeth asked, looking a little grossed out. Percy had a pretty similar expression and, wow, no wonder they were still dating. They had already reached the ‘makes same faces’ stage.

The healer cocked his head for a moment, not quite certain of her tone, before it dawned on him. “Oh, they’re just shavings, imported from New Rome,” he sniffed, “they won’t let us have even one unicorn, which I feel is deeply unfair.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, and try not land in any walls or roofs.” Will chided belatedly. It had become a sort of habit, a way to tell Nico to be safe in a way he would accept. This was usually the point where Nico kissed him goodbye, and if they were alone or not being rushed, maybe touched foreheads for a moment. But it was obvious that this wasn’t the time for those little affections.

“Yes, mother,” Nico rolled his eyes, but he seemed strained. To compensate, he added several things in Italian that made Bianca gasp and clap her hands over little Nico’s ears. Little Nico, gods, they were going to have to come up with some sort of nickname for him, looked put out.

Will pinched Nico’s cheek affectionately and said in a bad falsetto, “And make sure you drink enough milk and mind your manners.” Too quick for Nico to react, he blew a raspberry against his cheek.

“Gah! Stop that, you’re the worst.” Nico all but threw himself out of Will’s grip and into the nearest shadow and vanished.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will isn't quite sure how this is going to work out, but at least no one's dead.

There was an uncomfortable silence after Nico vanished into the shadows. Will rocked back on his heels, unsure of how to pass the time. Sure, he was a friendly soul, but nothing he could think of sounded appropriate. There was nothing a ten-year-old should hear before Camp, and the rest was, what, spoilers? Finally, he came up with something that seemed safe enough.

"So, Percy, are you going to die of an infection or can I take a look at your wound?"

"What? Oh, sure," Percy rolled up his sleeve to expose the poisoned cut. "Dr. Thorn got me, he has a tail with spikes on it. Said he was-"

"A manticore!" Nico squeaked. "He's got five thousand attack power and-"

Bianca put a hand over his mouth. "No one knows what you're talking about, Nico."

Nico deflated, and the light in his eyes dimmed. Will immediately felt bad for the kid.

"It's Mythomagic, right? You still have the figurines, you know. I saw them when I was snooping through your closet. One square should do it." The last part was directed at Percy, who obediently opened his mouth for the ambrosia.

"I _do_?" Nico asked, looking wide-eyed. "Did I get all the other figurines? I'm only missing one, but did they make any new ones? Who are they? Do you know their stats? Do _I_?" Nico wasn't even breathing hard. What the fuck.

"Uhh, sorry Neeks, I don't know. We've never really talked about it much." Will wilted at the look on little Nico's face. It was a heart-breaking mix of sadness and the beginnings of the walls that would one day encompass him. Gods, how did you talk to the ten-year-old version of your boyfriend when they were so different?

Bianca rubbed her brother's shoulder almost mechanically. Even from several feet Will's fine-tuned healer senses could feel the low-level stress and exhaustion emanating from the elder di Angelo.

Will's own memories of Bianca were faint. He recalled seeing her at the Cabin 8 table after the whole fiasco with Dad's solar-car. Nico had proudly pointed her out before the Capture the Flag game. Then again before the questers went on their journey.

Gods, this was turning out to be one of the most awkward silences in his life. Though nothing would ever top his dad popping in the Hades cabin in the middle of the night to give pointers. And then not leaving when they hadn't said anything. Just smiled like he was the greatest parent ever.

Will shuddered at the memory, wanting to wail at the sheer horror of it all. He waved a hand at everyone as they stared at him.

"Don't worry, this just reminded me about the time my dad popped up in the middle of the night to give me some, uh, _advice_ , about my relationship."

Thalia winced, even though she tried to hide it with an eye-roll. Annabeth looked a little squeamish, like she was imagining her mom dropping in to give her verdict on her own relationship with Percy. Whatever that had meant when they were fourteen. Percy looked amazingly oblivious to what Will was referring to.

"Your dad?" Bianca ventured hesitantly.

"Hmm? Oh, Apollo. Yeah, we get a pretty mixed bag. Powers of prophecy, healing, projectiles, music. You'll see when we get back to camp. It gets pretty obvious after a while who's whose kid."

Raking a hand through his curls, ow, yes, his hair was tangled and in need of a desperate cleaning, Will noticed one of the shadows nearby shifting. After a second, it had reformed into Nico, who looked like he had possibly had an accident with an electrical socket.

"So, had fun?" Will asked desperately. It wasn't that he didn't like Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth, it was just really hard to hold a conversation with someone who you literally could not bring up anything that had happened in the last seven years.

"Guess who's back at camp? He's gotten so worked up that this is happening." The 'this' was apparently some sort of random electrocution. Why did this stuff always happen when he was away from Camp? Did they have enough burn cream? Did their burn cream work on lightning sparks?

Nico desperately tried to look official as he patted his hair down from the static puffball it currently resembled.

"Chiron says that there are possibly an infinite amount of worlds and timelines and you guys got booted from your own into ours and if you learn things about the future we won't create any time paradoxes. Okay? Also, however long you spend here will be roughly how long you're gone from your own, uh, world, timeline, thing."

Everyone else nodded a little dumbly. This was a little more than Will was expecting to hear. This is, everyone except for Annabeth. She looked curious, and somewhat friendlier than she had for the entire time they had been standing in this godsforsaken field.

"Does that mean that multiverse theory is actually correct?" Annabeth asked curiously. Will startled, and Nico was beginning to look horrified. "But what _kind_ of m-theory?" She started to mumble to herself as she concentrated on trying to unravel the secrets of the universe.

"Annabeth?" Nico started, not looking surprised when she ignored him.

"Annabeth?" Percy's attempt wasn't much better. "Hey? Wise Girl!" coupled with the yank on a lock of her hair, he finally got her attention.

Well, it got her to punch Percy in the arm, which was close enough.

"What, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth retorted, before realizing that everyone was staring at her and flushing crimson.

"Right, okay then. Did Chiron actually say anything useful about how Camp is going to work out?" Thalia interrupted, staring at Nico with her electric blue eyes.

Will honestly had never really interacted with the daughter of Zeus, and now he was glad of it. She had the sort of stare that implied that not getting her way would involve getting stabbed with various weapons.

Nico's gaze was cool and flat, and Will belatedly remembered that considering how Jason and she had basically made Nico a third sibling, he wasn't intimidated. Well, much.

"Will takes the puppies back to camp. I take the rest of you and shadow travel into the Big House. Chiron makes his announcement to the camp as to what's going on. He comes back and explains more details to us. We move on. Got it?" Nico's smirk suggested he would like Thalia to try to fight him.

"Fine." She bit out.

Nico stepped back into a more relaxed slouch, looking pleased with himself. His hands again came up to fiddle with his hair.

Self-confidence was a good look on him, Will thought a little dreamily. He just got all _demanding_ and take-no-shit. Even with his hair looking that awful from Jason's whatever it was…

Jason. Jason Grace. AKA Thalia Grace's brother. Whom she had thought was dead until a few years ago.

"Nico!" Will stage-whispered as he stared wide-eyed at Thalia. They were at least fifteen feet apart and close enough to everyone else that they all turned to stare at him.

"What?" Thalia asked, shifting a bit from foot to foot. She looked uncomfortable with Will's staring, which Will usually tried to avoid. Unless a patient really needed him to stare them into obeying his instructions, which was beside the point.

"Will?" Nico's hands had left his hair and one was stretched towards him as if in a prelude to Nico actually touching him.

"Jason." That was all it took to also get Nico staring wide-eyed at Thalia.

"What? What does that even mean? Say something!" Thalia snapped, stepping back into the protection of having Annabeth and Percy at her side.

Bianca had dragged little Nico a few feet off from them. She looked torn between running and watching the impending train wreck.

 _It's like we live in a soap opera_ Will thought a little wildly as he clutched at his hair.

"How do we even prove that? She won't believe us until she sees him." Will said.

Thalia's eyes were narrowing, but her face looked torn between hope and possibly murdering them both for not saying anything.

"Wait, wait, I've got a picture…" Nico pulled his phone out of his jean pocket, flipping through pictures to find the one he wanted.

Will put up a hand to stop Percy, who had drawn Riptide. "Celestial Bronze wiring, no monsters." They had managed to 'fix' a lot of demigod cells like that, which made things so much easier.

Edging closer, Will could tell that Nico's photos were all from around winter break.

Finding the one he wanted, Nico zoomed in on something and shoved it Thalia's face with an almost maniac desperation. "Look!"

She gasped, and her fingers hovered over the screen as if to touch the face it was centered on.

"That scar, he-he kept getting into things and when he was two and he-"

"Tried to eat a stapler. Trust me, I spent three days following him around camp so that every time he said he was hungry or anything related to that, I whipped out this mini-stapler, put it on a plate, and handed it to him." Nico finished. He grinned at the memory.

Will snickered. He had forgotten about that. It had been the summer after the war, and Nico had been testing himself, trying to see what parts of him had survived all that he had suffered. Also testing the limits of Jason's patience, but still.

He distinctly remembered the night, a week before school had started, and how Nico's voice had trembled, but his body had been soft and still. They had been in the Hades cabin, the blankets over their heads, the lights off, wrapped around each other.

Will too, had whispered in that great darkness. How terrified he'd been when he'd reached Camp, unable to handle the speed and size of New York after growing up in a small coastal town in Oregon. How, even after he'd been claimed, he felt like an outcast. He could barely sing, his archery was only so-so, compared to his siblings, he didn't have prophetic dreams, and he was too short to really help in the infirmary.

Was he a failed son of Apollo? Thankfully he had figured out his talent for healing by the end of the summer, after a growth spurt. And the other skills that came with being a son of Apollo had developed enough that he finally felt like part of the family.

Will exhaled through his nose. It was the first time in a while that, when a wave of melancholy swept through him, he couldn't go to Nico for comfort. Well, public comfort, anyways.

"Right, let's get going!" Will said, trying to force some good cheer into his voice. "Chiron isn't going to appreciate all of us dawdling here. Sorry Thalia, but you'll see him the flesh in a few minutes. Chiron's probably filled him in on everything early."

"Probably," Nico agreed, "and just to let you know, he's like a blond Superman, so be warned."

"He's not _that_ bad." Will rolled his eyes. "We have managed to make him loosen up over the years. He's just… really rule-abiding."

"Wait, hold up, what's going on?" Percy interjected.

"I had -– _have_ \-- a brother, his name is Jason. You'll see when we get to Camp."

After a moment, it became clear that no one was going to say anything, and Will allowed himself to relax.

Bringing his fingers to his lips brought Nico's hands over his ears in a reflex gesture. Everyone else was not so lucky as his 'taxi-cab whistle' split the air.

"Oww." Little Nico complained, rubbing his ears.

Leo and Winnie, however, came bounding up to them, quick as you please. Leo had, to Will's dismay, managed to find the one dirt and/or mud patch in the entire area and had made good work of rolling in it. Winnie, thank gods, was only dirty belly-down, as if she had merely laid in it.

The separation from Nico was easier than Will expected. The puppies were eager for home, and all he had to do was hold on. Camp was, as usual, loud with the sounds of talking, sparring, screaming on the rock wall as demigods fell, and in a few cases either rhyming or spouting gibberish. Rolling his eyes, Will landed lightly on the ground.

Kirill Sokolov approached him with his mouth firmly shut for once, which meant he had pissed off the Hecate cabin or one of Will's siblings in the last hour or so. For a kid of Hermes, he wasn't that good at getting himself out of trouble.

To be fair it was only his second summer. Will patted the puppies and they ran off to find their water bowl. His tan skin complimented the black curls that hung in his face giving him the appearance of innocence and naivety. Considering he usually made sure his hair was done stylishly each morning and had adopted a swagger that really freaked Will out to see a thirteen-year-old have, he was probably trying to push all of Will healer/protector instincts.

"Let me guess, cursed?" Kirill nodded, and even without a word, his face managed to portray the bleak misery his life was without being able to talk his way out of things.

"I that white means attend/to mine we sand mend." The kid said with the most guileless look on his face, even though Will had no idea what the kid was saying. Ah, a rhyming gibberish curse, classic.

Will's smile was possibly a little patronizing as he clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Sorry, you're stuck with it until it wears off. Remind your cabin that they're the ones on rotation for bath-time today."

Kirill stomped off, muttering nonsense under breath, before switching to Russian and speaking louder when he realized that his native tongue was cursed as well. Well, Will didn't know Russian, but Kirill wasn't a very loud kid.

On the way to the Big House, Will waved to Jason, who looked to be instructing several campers on the specifics of the shrine they were decorating. Will stifled a snigger at the sight of Jason's _pontifex maximus_ robes, but smiled anyway when the son of Jupiter waved back..

Chiron was on the porch, sipping a cup of lemonade, but he smiled when he caught sight of Will.

"Good to see you, Mr. Solace, it looks like we can't let you two anywhere."

"Sorry, sir." Will replied good-naturedly. "Is Mr. D around?"

"He is," Chiron smiled, "but it appears that our camp director is not willing to do the paperwork required by this event unless necessary."

"Pity." Will beamed, rocking back on his heels.

"Nico and companions are in the basement." Chiron nodded his head in the direction the others were before leaping off the porch.

Chiron halted and turned. "Please do take care not to destroy anything while I make the announcement, Mr. Solace." Chiron said dryly, before trotting off towards the dining pavilion before Will could reply.

Will almost took the effort to shout something, before he realized that there was probably some truth to that statement. He sighed and walked towards the stairs. Hopefully Nico hadn't gotten anyone stuck in crates or partway through walls.

Then again, if he had, there would have been a lot more noise. And as Will approached the door, it seemed to be oddly silent. Will knocked hesitantly.

"Guys? Is everything all right? Is someone injured?" Will wasn't even sure he wanted to open the door at this point.

"It's fine, Will, come in." Nico's voice was curt, but not angry or sad, so Will figured it had to be impatience. He let out a sigh. Hopefully this was something easy to fix that wouldn't require a quest.

Opening the door first revealed a great deal of crates, full of ambrosia, nectar, and strawberry preserves. Opening it further revealed that everyone was gathered along the wall where Will and his siblings stored the extra supplies that didn't fit in the infirmary.

In a rather endearing sight, Thalia and Nico were huddled around the phone as presumably Nico showed her more pictures.

Neeks was… Will huffed a breath, apparently pestering Percy with a load of awkward and embarrassing questions, if the red in his face was anything to go by. Annabeth and Bianca were talking quietly, and Bianca's stress levels had reduced.

"Guys!" Will didn't quite shout, but it got everyone's attention. "Chiron's making the announcement, we should be able to leave the basement without being run through pretty soon." Will bounced on the soles of his feet, and then strode towards the group. His natural good cheer was back in full force now that everything was settling down.

"You know," Will said to Nico as he put his hands on his hips as he looked around the room, "I was half-expecting Jason to be here already."

"Oh he'll be here," Nico said dryly. "I texted him a few minutes ago to tell him where we were."

As if summoned, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. As one, the group looked up, and followed the sound with their eyes until it stopped at the door.

"Come on in! It's practically a party in here!" Will shouted with glee. Nico stared at him, no doubt wondering if his boyfriend had gotten a head injury on the way back to Camp.

The door opened. Slowly. It was either like a movie scene, or a really, really, terrible horror movie. Then Jason stepped through the door.

Somebody snickered. It was probably Percy. To be fair, the pontifex robes looked a little ridiculous when Jason wasn't wearing armor with them. Not to mention that the way it clung to the demigod's head meant it was bobby-pinned to his head.

Jason smiled sheepishly. "I've been doing blessings all day. Guess I forgot I was wearing it."

"I always knew you'd grow up to be a total dork."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you like this chapter, comments and concrit are always welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

_"I always knew you'd grow up to be a total dork."_

There was a beat, as Jason seemed to process this.

Then Jason smiled. "Love you too, sis."

That seemed to spur Thalia, and she ran across the room to tackle-hug her baby brother. It was quite adorable, if one didn't count the sparks popping off the siblings as their emotions overwhelmed them.

Will smiled a little sadly. He always had his siblings around, whether he liked it or not. Jason and Thalia rarely saw each other in person. Even their I.M.s were short, or so Nico told him. Artemis didn't exactly give out vacation days, and the minor gods and goddesses didn't either.

From the ceiling came the sound of a heavy hoof striking the floor.

"Chiron's back. Guess we're good to go." Nico said lightly. Despite his tone, Will could see how the other demigod's shoulders were tense.

"And by that we mean lunch. How many of you have eaten anything in the last six hours?" Will put his hands on his hips, eyebrows raised.

No one raised their hand. Well, Nico did, but Will shot him down with a withering glare.

"That piece of toast you had for breakfast  _does not count_ , di Angelo."

Nico crossed his arms and scuffed the floor, faux-angry. "Well, I guess that means we should have lunch."

Will beamed. "See? This is why you listen to me."

"I  _listen_  to you because you'll nag my ear off if I don't." Nico rolled his eyes.

"I don't  _nag_ , honestly-" Will turned more fully towards Nico.

"Guys?" Jason coughed, and the couple looked up from their bickering. "That isn't really getting us closer to the pavilion."

"Oh. Right." Nico said shortly. He cleared his throat. "Um, let's get going. I bet everyone's just waiting to know how this happened."

"Man, this is going to be better than Leo flying into camp on Festus." Jason said cheerily as they mounted the stairs. Will snorted.

"It  _better_  be better than how you guys arrived. I'm still mad about the chariot." No one else said a word.

"Look, that wasn't our fault, mostly. And we got Leo to fix it!" Jason rebutted.

"He tried to add flame decals.  _Flame decals_ , to a  _flying chariot_." Will's arm nearly smacked Annabeth in the face as he attempted to gesticulate just how big of an offense this was.

There was a pause as everyone got used to the sunlight as they stepped onto the porch. Huffing, Will dropped the argument.

The dining pavilion looked, well, crowded, and as they approached, Will could see people's heads turning as they stared.

The group stopped at the entrance to the pavilion, and Will felt his face begin to flush and his hands sweat. He wasn't good at diffusing situations like this. Organizing an infirmary? Awesome. Helping lay out battle tactics for Capture the Flag? He was your man. Dealing with all of Camp as they tried to mentally sort through their generation's heroes traveling from an alternate dimension? Yeah, this was worse than being a midwife.

After a moment of uncomfortable scrutiny, the other campers went back to their meals.

"Why is everyone at different tables?" Annabeth said suddenly. Will blinked in confusion and looked around the pavilion. Lou Ellen and Cecil were sitting with their usual group, which sometimes he sat with when he wasn't with Nico or at the Apollo table. A mix of Ares and Nike kids were arguing at the Ares table, and Leo, Calypso, and Piper were at the Poseidon table.

"After the quest of the Seven, we came back and decided that segregating everybody based on their godly parent was stupid." Jason shrugged, nonchalant. "It helped that the kids of the Big Three were the ones to change it."

Neeks, who was looking confused, but also tiny and adorable, grabbed Bianca's hand, and moved towards the food. Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia did the same, but much more slowly. By the time Will had gotten his food, and forced Nico to at least put something on his plate that appeared to be healthy and approached the fire, Thalia had already explained the sacrifice and scraped part of her plate into the fire. The di Angelo's didn't look very certain, but they did the same.

By the time everyone had their food, it almost looked like a teen movie. Scene: The New Kid, or, in this case new kids, awkwardly stood in the cafeteria while trying to decide what clique to join.

"Join us," Nico blurted out when Will turned to head for the table containing Leo, Calypso, and Piper. "We've got room."

The rest of the group looked at him in surprise, Will most especially. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jason smiling softly. Will felt a tug at the corner of his mouth too. He felt something in him soften at Nico's uncharacteristic kindness.

After introductions, where it became apparent that, no matter their age, Percy and Leo got along like a house on fire, they settled in to eat. It was soothing, for a few minutes, Will noted, if he didn't look too hard or listen, just like normal. But no, there was Thalia and Annabeth, listening to Piper's tale about her first quest, looking almost amazed that a daughter of Aphrodite would stop primping and pampering herself long enough to actually do it.

It wasn't  _all_  bad, from Will's point of view. After all, it wasn't every day that Jason expounded every heroic thing that Nico had done in the last seven years. Nico, absolutely scarlet from embarrassment, was trying to slide under the table. Jason, who had a sixth sense for these things, had grabbed the back of Nico's t-shirt and wasn't letting go.

"I mean, most people after that would go for a well-deserved rest, or at least a snack. But Nico just kept going!" Jason prattled on. Will knew he meant well, but he could see how ashen his boyfriend's face was getting. His usual techniques –pepper his boyfriend's face in kisses while whispering 'beepboop' or sticking his hands up Nico's shirt— would not work this time.

"I'm done! C'mon Nico, you promised you'd help me clean my apartment!" Will stood up and took Nico's wrist, deliberately putting two fingers to his pulse. It was fast, but not scary-fast.

"Do I have to?" Nico whined, rolling his eyes. It wasn't quite as effective, what with the lack of color in his face, but Will appreciated the effort. Jason had stopped talking and let go of his shirt, faintly pink. Will usually approved of Jason's cheer-up techniques, but sometimes he forgot himself.

"I thought doctors were supposed to be  _organized_ ," Nico harped.

"Well excuse me for not living up to your ideals of doctorly precision. Besides, I'm pre-med." Will huffed dramatically.

"I would have  _never_  known, considering how much you like to say 'doctor's orders'." Nico rolled his eyes.

Will pouted, but said nothing. If asked, he would explain that he was trying to be the better man.

"Anyways, yes, we're going to the apartment after this." Nico concedes. "Who's going to show you guys around camp?"

Thalia and Annabeth look offended, which was natural considering how long they'd been at camp. After a beat, Percy frowned, like he wasn't sure if he should be offended or not.

"Things have changed," Nico shrugged, unconcerned. "I'd rather you not get smited because you were stupid enough to mess up one of the shrines."

Thalia opened her mouth, and then closed it. Will winced at the irritation in her face, but he wasn't really up for trying to play peacekeeper.

"Why do you have an apartment?" Bianca asked. Will stared at her in confusion.

"I mean, don't you live here in the summers?" Bianca clarified, though now she just looked uncertain, and rather small. She pulled the cap down a little bit.

"Oh! Yeah, I do, but some of the older campers teamed up after the war to buy an apartment building in the city that could be a safe space for the demigods who were going to college here, or were too powerful to just stay in a mortal building, or even for those of us who just didn't want to go home. Rent's really cheap, and sometimes our godly parents help out with some of it."

"They  _do_?" Annabeth looked amazed, which was almost weird, but it made sense.

"Yeah, they realized after a while that they couldn't just let us into the world without giving us anything." Nico said a little caustically.

"Um," Will didn't really want to mediate an argument about godly parenting while they were surrounded by the camp, but made a mental note to ask about it later. "So, yeah, that's what some of us are doing, so we can't show you around. Jason?"

"I can't do it," Jason said quickly, shooting an apologetic glance at his sister. "I need to finish up one of the shrines, I've only got a few days before I'm needed back in New Rome."

Piper shook her head before anyone could ask. "I've got a meeting after this with some of the dryads and naiads, apparently a couple of the campers pulled some shit and they're  _mad_."

Everyone looked at Leo and Calypso, who shrugged. "I'm not too busy for the next couple of days, and neither is Leo." Leo nodded madly, which wasn't really helped by the way the wires he was fiddling with, which were attached to some coppery thingies, and possibly a wrench, began sparking. Leo's torso went up in flames, possibly in sympathy for his project.

"Aaaand, we're gone!" Will yelped as he grabbed Nico's hand and bolted for the shadows. Nico was laughing, which was setting Will off, but Nico managed to catch up to Will to get a better hold of him as the shadows rose to meet them.

* * *

The shadow trip into their apartment -–well, technically it was Will's, but Nico spent enough time there as it was- was rough, mostly because Nico was laughing, and Will was laughing and they crashed into a wall.

For a moment, both of them were perfectly still as they waited with baited breath for someone to start complaining about the noise.

When nothing happened, they burst into giggles again and stumbled towards Will's bed. The smoky grey-and-blue duvet was rumpled, and the golden lightning pattern on it shimmered in the afternoon light.

Will pushed Nico onto the bed and began peppering kisses on his boyfriend's face. Nico began gasping as he ran out of air, and half-heartedly smacking at Will's shoulder. With a smirk, Will locked eyes with Nico and began pressing kisses into Nico's neck. Slowly and open-mouthed, Will watched Nico's eyes roll back in pleasure.

"You know that's ticklish, ah!" Nico's whole body shuddered from the attention to his neck. Ticklish indeed. But still, Will rolled over to his side to let Nico get some air, and control his own breathing.

Idly, Will began running his thumb over the curve of one of Nico's collarbones through his t-shirt. For the next few minutes, they just allowed the silence and soothing motion calm them both.

"Something you want to tell me about my collarbones?" Nico asked sarcastically. To be fair, Will did have a thing for the way they, well, existed. Something about the graceful line they cut on Nico's chest, or the way they emphasized his boyfriend's slender neck. Once, he had left a string of hickies across them just to prove that he could. Thankfully, it had also been winter and Nico could get away with wearing a shirt at all times, rather than taking it off to spar or swim like he would have in the summer months.

"Well," Will drawled, "they  _are_  pretty." Nico shifted into a more comfortable position and raised his eyebrows.

"Pretty. Oh  _boy_ , tell me more," Nico deadpanned back. Will's answering remark got stuck in his throat as it struck him, not for the first time, just how comfortable Nico was in Will's bed, his apartment, with him.

_I like the way you look in my bed. I like the way you know where everything is. I like the way you sometimes stay the night and stay for the morning_ _._ "I like the way you brush your hair," was what came out.

Nico began snickering into the pillows. "Oh gods, the romance in this relationship is dead. What's left that we have going for us?"

Will blushed crimson, but rallied admirably. "Well, we could always act like a  _really_  old married couple. I'm pretty sure we could get grandpa pants somewhere, and some mothball-smelling cardigans. Go around camp yelling about how 'in our day we, you know, whatevered'."

Nico stopped snickering to stare at him. Then he reached out to cradle Will's face and bring their foreheads together. Nico didn't say a word, but Will could read the emotions on his face. Shock, for one, that Will's first instinct had been a marriage joke. A warm affection that suffused his body. Others he wasn't quite willing to go through yet. Will knew because he could recognize them in himself.

"How did I end up with a boyfriend like you?" Nico whispered.

Will kissed the palm of his hand and shifted up so they could be face-to-face. He leaned in very close. "I've been told I have a saving people thing."

"Yeah, the romance in this relationship is dead. I'm breaking up with you and dating Jason."

Will snickered at the empty threat. "Speaking of boyfriends, how do you want to deal with your sister and mini-you?"

The other boy's face crumpled. "I don't  _know_. I remember at that age I was so scared about my feelings, what they meant. I grew up in a really Catholic country, you can't understand, and Bianca knew, I think. We didn't really talk about it. After I lost her I internalized so much. And my feelings for Percy got so wrapped up in my anger and fear I didn't know how to act around him.

"I don't want to hide my emotions, or you, I want to show my younger self that I can still be part of Camp, of everything, that we don't have to be ashamed. I don't want to be terrified of my own emotions."

"But?" Will prodded. Nico frowned.

"I don't know how they'll react. I mean, what if Bianca takes it really badly? What if  _I_  take it really badly? And you know how awkward Percy is, he'd end up making it worse."

Will… couldn't really argue with that. "Okay, but how would you have felt, at that age, if someone you looked up to or trusted said that you were okay? That your feelings were natural, and that you weren't broken?"

"While I respect your attempts at psychiatry, it wasn't that simple."

"Okay, I get that I'm the son of Apollo, and cheery and all that, but you could at least put some effort towards optimism, you know." Will swatted at Nico's thigh.

"Ow," Nico deadpanned. "That's really encouraging my optimistic streak. Violence."

Will stared him dead in the eye for a moment. "Oh yes, you poor soul."

Nico sniffed, very loudly. There was a moment of silence, before they both cracked up. After a few minutes -they kept setting each other off, it wasn't even that  _funny_ \- they managed to calm down.

Will watched Nico watch the ceiling for a bit, before Nico frowned in thought.

"No, but seriously, for however long they're here, I've got Bianca back, and I don't want her to avoid me the entire time because she thinks I'm a  _f_ _reak_!" Nico's voice cracked and Will quickly moved to cradle his boyfriend's head as Nico began dry sobbing into Will's chest.

Sometime during his years away at camp, Nico had trained himself to cry without tears, and it always broke Will's heart to think of what could have happened to make a kid do something like that. They never talked about it, if only because Will wasn't sure he could handle it. And Nico really didn't need him blowing his top and single-handedly storming the Underworld to yell at Nico's dad about his terrible parenting skills. Preferably when Persephone wasn't around to murder him slowly for his disrespect.

Nico had curled up on the duvet, while Will rubbed large, slow circles on his back. Will whispered nonsense into his boyfriend's hair until the dry heaving had been reduced to heavy panting.

"Okay, let's look at this logically," Will started, and paused to allow Nico to give him his best 'are you fucking kidding me' glare. "Is there anything Bianca has done to make you believe that she'd reject you for liking guys?"

"Well, no." Nico worried his lower lip as he thought about it. "I don't know if she'd be happy or not, but I don't think she'd  _reject_  me."

"That's great! Now, is there a reason you wouldn't want to tell your younger self?"

"No!" Nico said at once. "Anything that would have made those first four years easier would have been a godsend." Nico huffed and tucked his head into the crook of Will's shoulder.

"Okay. So, do you want to tell Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy?"

Nico mumbled something into his neck.

"Can't hear you sweetheart, try again."

"Percy'd be too embarrassing. And I think Annabeth and Thalia already have it half figured out already."

"That's okay. Are you okay with that?"

Silence. Will brushed Nico's black curls off his face.

"Yeah. I am."

"That's even better. So, do you want to tell your sister, or do you want someone else to? I'll do it, if you want me to. Jason would be delighted to help you, so would Annabeth or Piper. Our Annabeth, just to clarify."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yes, I assumed so."

"You are such a sarcastic jerk, why am I dating you again?"

"I'm pretty sure you did it so you could practice your medical skills on me." Nico said, absolutely straight-faced.

"I hate you, I'm going to make you clean everything."

"No you won't." He was right, damn him. Will nipped at his ear in retaliation, and savored the yelp.

"Anyways, back to your sister. Yes, no, maybe so? If you didn't want to be verbal, we could just be really affectionate until she catches on."

Nico's mouth twitched. Will counted it as a win. "No, I want to tell her, but can you come with me?"

"Sure. Do you just want me there in general, or for something specific?"

"Can you hold my hand? Like, when I tell her, not before. I'm going to need it."

"Sure. Do you want to tell Neeks at the same time, or another time?"

"Same time, I- wait, Neeks?"

"I can't call you  _both_  Nico."

His boyfriend stared at him in horror. "I am not helping you clean anything ever again William Jacob Solace."

"Noooo," Will whined immediately, "Niiiiicoooooo, I need heeeeeelp."

"Too bad, so sad!" Nico jumped off the bed and danced out of Will's grasp. Standing up straight, Nico was at the perfect angle to see not only Will bedroom, but also out the door to the living room and kitchenette.

"Actually, no, fuck that, get up Solace." Nico shoved him off the bed. "This place is hideous and I'm not allowing you to wallow in your own filth. Get moving and strip the bed."

"Yes  _sir_ ," Will said sarcastically, but he started moving anyways. Besides, if Nico had enough energy to boss him around and start cleaning, then he couldn't feel that nervous about his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Sorry this took so long, finals and spring break decided to kick my ass. Hope you like it and comment.


	4. Hiatus info

 

I am so sorry to tell you guys this. But I don't think I'll be finishing  _Latibule_. It's not that I don't want to, or that I don't care that you guys are invested in this story. Unfortunately, a lot of factors came into play, and I'm not continuing the story. Maybe at some point in the future a miracle will happen and I'll whip out the rest of the story, but for now, I'm going to say this story is up for adoption.

That means: anyone can take this story and continue writing it (however, I ask that you post something in the comments or message me or something to tell me you're doing that), or you can ask for whatever I had written of the next chapter, or what ideas I had for the plot or anything else. 

I'm so sorry, but thank you so much for everyone who left kind comments to me over the years!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, first Solangelo story, so critique is welcomed. Comments and kudos are super awesome.


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